The Instruction Manual.....

Proverbs 4:13 - Take fast hold of instruction; let her not go: keep her; for she is thy life.

From the time I was just a little girl I was a very stubborn child, to say the least. Over the years I’ve been told I was “driven,” “focused,” and even “obsessive” about things. But really it comes down to stubbornness.

I never wanted to admit that I could NOT do something, or that I needed the help of anyone else. I remember when Jeff and I were living in Minot. We had a queen sized waterbed and a double pedestal base and I decided I wanted to rearrange the bedroom ~ but I did NOT want to drain that bed!! Well, I did move that bed…completely full of water. I used my back and my feet, wedged myself between walls and furniture and pushed it completely across the hard wood floors. (By the way…I don’t recommend doing this.)

I was so stubborn I wouldn’t wait for Jeff to help, I wouldn’t ask for help, and I ended up really hurting myself. Over the years I have had to learn that that kind of attitude is sin.

1 Samuel 15:23 says, “For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry…”

God wants us to ask for help, from Him and from those He has put in our life. I had to learn that I couldn’t do everything on my own (and honestly, I don’t want to.) I also don’t have to always do everything perfectly or have everything perfect around me.

Over the past years, I have come to the realization that it is okay to ask for help, and that receiving instruction is so important. God gave us His Word so that we can have all the instructions we need while we’re here on this earth.

But just having those instructions is not enough, as the verse I am looking at in Proverbs today shows us. Solomon hit the nail on the head when he instructed us to "take fast hold of instruction, and let her not go." So many of the daily problems in our lives would be much easier to overcome if we humbled ourselves and spent time studying our “Instruction Manual.” No matter what the situation there is always that one constant, infallible source of instruction: God's word.

Accepting or looking for instruction does not make a person any less wise or knowledgeable. It takes much more wisdom to seek instruction, to take fast hold of it, and to never let it go ~~ a lesson that I have learned the hard way many times.